Home made Cheese Crackers and Cook Books

Today Bill and Brittney went golfing, leaving me home alone.  :)  I cannot smile enough!  Why is it when I am home alone I get so much more accomplished.  Bill and I don't entertain each other during the day so I dunno?  One of life's mysteries I guess.

One of our bookstores are going out of business, which will leave our small town with NO bookstores!  I am so saddened.  Not even that I go buy books ever week, or even every month.  But, I do love books and feel like with technology they may go away like the video stores have.  There is just nothing like turning the page to a book.  Ughh  Do they call this progress?  I wonder sometimes.

I went in and bought 4 empty cookbooks that I can just write in.  They are really nice they have all the dividers for different food groups and even have awesome plastic sleeves so you can just remove a page and wipe it clean if you spill.  I thought I would start these now and give them for Christmas gifts.
So, today I took out all my recipes and the ones I "have been meaning to try" are left on the dining room table so I can try one every other day or so. 
Today I made Cheese Crackers.  They are really good, and were so easy.  I will change the recipe next time.  They are very light and remind me kind of a goldfish cracker.  Which gave me the idea to add Parmesan cheese to some, olive oil and cracked pepper to some, and cayenne pepper and pepper flakes to others.  :)  I made mine too thick.  I'll have to work differently next time where I can roll the dough out thinner so the crackers are more crisp.

I took this entire week off again of Curves.  I talked with my doctor and she suggested that I try 3 days a week instead of 5 and then do my trampoline only if I am feeling strong.  All this time since Sundays episode I still have a pain in my chest and I get dizzy standing.  My feet and legs have started to swell.  I am drinking plenty of water and still eating no salt so I am not sure about this.  Unless it is just the heat.  They get so painful that it is painful to walk. 

Any way... Here are some pictures to show my great day today. 

Recipe for Cheese Crackers... adjust as you like

My batch made 95 crackers

1 1/2 (6 oz) extra-sharp Cheddar Cheese grated
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick of butter) softened
3/4 cup flour (plus some for dusting board and rolling pin)
1/2 teaspoon salt (I left this out and substituted garlic powder)
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes. ( I would use more next time)
1 1/2 tablespoon of milk

Preheat oven to 350

Cover baking sheet with parchment paper

Put everything except milk into a food processor and pulse until crumbled texture.  Add milk and pulse until dough begins to form a ball.  You may need to adjust milk. 
Roll the dough out on a floured board with a rolling pin until about 1/8" thick.  Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife cut into 1" strips, then into 1" squares.
Using the flat end of a chop stick or skewer poke a hole in the center of each cracker.

Place crackers at least a 1/4" apart on parchment paper.  Bake 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. 
Remove and let cool on baking sheet completely.

Eat!  Or, store in a covered container to eat within a day or two. 

Play with the flavors... I intend too.  Hope you like them.